Car-transfer apparatus



J. H. FOX ETAL 6 Dec. 14,1926. v 6 1,610,366

' cm TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed Juhe 10, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG];

Dec z. 14 ,1926.

1,610,366; J. H. FOX ET AL v v CAR TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed June lO 1925 S'Sheets-Sheet 2 FIELS.

- lt-La],

Dec. 14 ,1926.

J. H. Fo-x ETAL CAR TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed June 10, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec'. 14 1926.

Filed June 10, .1925

FIGS.

J. H. Fox ET-AL CAR TRANSFER APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR 5' J. H. FOX ET AL CAR TRANSFER APPARATUS Dec. 14 1926.

Filed June '10, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 tracks are employed, the two central tracks JOHN Birox AND ALBERT n.1nva' s, or rrrrsnnrten', PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO rrrrssunen PLATE enas's' co'M-rANY, acoaroaa'r oN or :PnNNsYLvA m.

can-massa e arranarus.

Application medium-1o, 1925. Serial No. 36,129.

The invention relates to a car transfer system designed particularlyfor handling the cars or tables employed in what is known as a straight away plate glass grinding and polishing operation. It has for its, objectscars by the operator of the shiftmg locomotive. v In the particular arrangement to whic the improvement is applied,.four parallel being working tracks passing beneath a series of grinding and'polishingrunners, and the two outside tracks being'return tracks for bringing the grinding tables or cars back to starting position on the working tracks. At each end of the four tracks is a transverse track carrying a transfer car, and upon the car is mounted alocomotive for pulling the grinding cars onto the transfer car and then pushing them off. A means is thus pro- 5 vided at each end of the four tracks for shifting the cars from any one of such tracks to any one of the other of such tracks. The

' Fig. 1.

improvement relates particularly to the means for positioning or indexing the transfer cars with respect to the four tracks, and to the means whereby the operator on-the locomotive can control the coupling or uncoupling of the grinding cars, so that he can do this work without assistance from others. and without leaving the locomotive himself. -This becomes important as the operation of the system isspeeded up and the number of cars which must be shifted at each end of the system in a given time is increased. One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the general arrangement of the system. Fig. 2 is a section on the lineII-II of Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line III-III of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 isa section on the line IV-JV of'Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale onthe line V-V of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a transverse section on the line VF-VI of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a partial end elevation and partial section of the transfer car. Fig.-

8 is a detail plan view of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 7 'Fig. 9 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale at the position indicated by the line IX-IX of Fig. 1 Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is an end elevation of the transfer car looking at the end opposite to that of Fig. 7. Fig. 12 is an enlarged vertical section through the ends of a pair ofgrinding or work cars showing the coupling devices. And Fig. 13 is an end view of the shaft upon which the movable coupling ,member of the cars is mounted.

Referring to Fig. 1, A, B, C and D are the four parallel tracks comprising the sys-- tem, A and B being the work tracks and C v and D the return tracks. E and F are the transfer tracks, which carry the transfer cars G and H, and I, K, L, M'etc. are the grinding or work cars or tables, to theupper surfaces of which are cemented the sheets of glass which'are to be ground andpolished.

These cars are all the same in construction,

butare given the different reference letters I, K, L and M for conveniencein reference,

Arranged in series over the work tracks A andhB are a series of grinding and polishing runners beneath which the grinding cars or tables are slowly moved (from right to left), preferably by means of a rack and pinion drive (not shown). The cars or tables are moved along the tracks C and D (from left to right) by means of driven endless chains N and O. P and Q are the transfer locomotives for pulling the grinding cars onto the transfer cars and for pus ing them off.

In operation, the glass to be surfaced is cemented upon the tables I at the right hand end of the track A and carried along this track beneath the grinders and polishers to the left hand end of the track, the cars being coupled together to form a continuous train. When a car reaches the left hand end of the track A, it is uncoupled and pulled onto the transfer car H by the locomotive Q,

after which the transfer car is moved laterally on its track F until such track on the transfer car is in alignment with the track D, at which time the car carrying the glass sheet with its upper surface ground and polished, is pushed from the transfer car by the locomotive onto the track D and carried to the'right along such track by the endless chain 0. During such travel, .the sheet is loosened from the car, and when the car reaches the right hand end of the track, it is picked up y a suitable vacuum frame,

screwed intothe end of the yoke 32 and bearing against the spring serves-as an adjustingmeans for varying the tension of the spring. r

When the countershaftf 28 is rotated in one direction, the nuts 31, 31' are drawn towards each other and the rods 19 and 20 are moved outward. When the direction of rotation of the shaft 28 is reversed, the nuts 31 are moved away from each other and the rods 19 and 20 are moved toward each other.

The parts controlling the indexing mecha-' nism are so adjusted that normally the rollers 21, 21 yieldinglyengage the came rails 22 and 22, so-that these rolls .are forced into the notches or recesses 22, 22 when the track of the transfer car arrives in registration with any one of the tracks A, B, C and D When it is desired to move the car from one of these positions,,the motor 25 is operated so as to retract the bars 19 and 20, thus rendering it easier for the motor 13 which moves the transfer car to shift fromv this indexed position to the next position of the car. After the car has started from its position and the rolls 21 are out of the cam recesses,.the motor 25 is operated to'movo thenuts 31, 31 inward and thus increase the spring pressure of the rolls 21, 21 upon the cam tracks, so that when the car arrives in its next position, it will be positivel stopped by the engagement of the rolls wit the cam recesses provided the motor 13 (Fig. 11) has been stopped before such engagement. By this arrangement, the car is 'very'positively indexed in its various positions and no time is lost in getting it at its proper and exact position of registration with respect to the tracks A, B, C and D.

The work cars on the tracks and D'ordinarily become coupled together when they reach the right hand end of these tracks and,

while awaiting removal by the transfer car from these tracks to the tracks A and B. When the locomotive moves off of the transfer car to en age'one of these cars on the tracks or D, it therefore becomes necessary to unconplethis car from the car to the left of it, and one .of the features of my invention consists in the provision of means whereby this may be automatically a:com-

plished without the assistance of another workman and without the operatorof the 10- comotive leaving his seat.

The locomotive itself comprises a body or frame 36 mounted on the wheels 37 and provided with the seat 38. It has at its front end a hook 39 with which the movable coupler book 6 is adapted to engage automatically when the end of the locomotive is pushed up against the end of the work car as indicated in Fig. 5. Each of the handles or levers 9 carried by the coupler shafts 7 forswinging the coupler members 6-is connected to a vertical lever 40 by means of a link 41 as indicated in Fig. 9,

the levers 4O being pivoted to the car bodies at 42. The arrangement is such that when the lower end of the lever 40 is swung to the left, the lever 9 is swun to the right, which movement unlocks an lifts the coupler member 6. This movement of the lever 40. to the left is accomplished by means of the stop member 43 which is fixed alongside of the track D and also alongside the track 0 at the right hand end ofthese tracks asindicated inFig. 1. Therefore, when the locomotive is coupled to the car M as indicated in Fig. 9 and moves it, together with the next car M to the right to carry the car onto 'car M, and in that case, the stop lever 43 would lie to the right of the lever 40 (nearest to the locomotive), and on movement of the locomotive to the right again, the stop mem-' ber 43 would engage this lever and uncouple' the locomotive from the car. In order to avoid this difiiculty, means are provided for swinging the lever 43'away from the track as the locomotive moves past it on its way to the left-. This arrangement is indicated in Figs. 9 and 10,-the stop member 43 being mounted upon the shaft 44 carried in the bearings 45, 45 and such shaft being provided at its end with a tripping lever 46.' This tripping lever and the stop member 43' .are held in normal position by means of a spring 47 arra ngedto yieldingly hold the rod 48 (Fig. 10) to the-right, such rod being pivoted at its end to the lever 46. A cam rail 49 is provided-upon the side of the locomotive, sothat as the locomotive moves to the left from the position shown in Fig.9,

it engages the rounded end of the lever 46 and swings this lever and the lever 43 outward. When in this position, the member 43 is outside the line of travel of the levers 40, so that in case the firstlever 40 is. to the left of the'member 43 when the locomotive is coupled to the car, such member is held in this position during the movement of the 10- comotive to the right until the parts arrive at the position indicated in F ig. 9 at which time the lever 46 is disengaged from the cam 49 and the member 43 swings back to normal position, so that it may engage the lever 40 when the carsare moved still farther to-the right.

After the work cars are shifted by the transfer car and its locomotive to the work tracks A and B, such carsare moved far enough along these tracks to couple them to the last car of the train which is being -moved ahead by the rack and pinion drive as heretofore described in connection with Fig. 12. These tables which are added are not, however, brought into tight engagement with the next table since in order to do this the handles 8 must be swung to the position indicated: in Fig. 12 and Fig. 2 with a considerable degree of positiveness. In order to accomplish this function from the locomotive, the arrangement shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is employed. This arrangement includes a bar 52 carrying at each end a pair of plates 53, 53 with the interposed wheels 54, 54 riding upon a track 55 in the form of an angle secured alongside the tracks A and B as indicated in Fig. 6. The plates 53 are provided with a transverse pin 56 preferably carrying a roller and adapted to engage the lower end of the handle 8 as indicated in Fig. 5 when the bar 52 and plates 53 secured thereto are moved to the left. After the parts arrive at the position indicated in Fig. 5 and the cars I-I become coupled, the bar 52 is moved to the left i from the locomotive by means of the lever 57 in order to tighten the coupling operated by the lever 8. The lever 57 has a crankend 58 adapted to operate the pair of toggle links 59 and 60 through the intermediary of the link 61, the link 60 being pivoted to a fixed point on the locomotive at 62 and the link 59 being pivoted when the lower end of a fourth-link 63' which is pivoted at its upper end to the shaft 64 upon which the lever 57 is pivoted. The lower end of this link-is adapted to engage a roller pin 65 extending between the plates 53 'so that when the lever 57 is moved to the position illustrated in Fig. 5, the lower end 63 is moved tothe left, thus moving the bar 52 to the left and locking the coupling between the cars II by means of the lever 8.

Means are also provided for shifting the bar 52 to the right back-to its starting point, such means including the bell crank lever" 66 pivoted to the plates 53 and occupying the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 5

' when the bar 52 isin locking position. The

horizontal arm of the bell crank lever 66 is provided with a roller 67 engaging the top of the rail 55, so that when the locomotive is moved to the rightwith the lower end of the link 63 in engagement with the vertical arm of the lever 66, such arm is held against rotation in a clockwise direction and the bar 52 is moved to the right with the locomotive, until the roller 67 on the lever '66 passes the inclined end 68 of the rail 55, at which time, the lever 66 rotates to the position indicated in dotted lines, so that on a further movement of the locomotive tothe right, there is no further movement of the bar 52 to the right. The lever 66 is now out of the way of the lower end of the link 63, so that when the loco- .40 and holding description motive carries a new car onto the track A,

the lower end of the link 63 can pass over. the lever 66 and engage the roller member 65 on the plates 53*,thus moving the bar 52 again to the left to the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 5, the bell cranlclever 66 being caused at this time to again assume the position indicated in full lines.

The hand lever 57 serves to uncouple the right hand end of the last car I from the locomotive, such lever being pivoted upon the same shaft as the lever 57, and being adapted to secure the uncoupling of the plis'hed by means ofa link 71 connected at its right hand end to a crank arm 72 carried by the lever 57.

After the cars are locked together and the couplers tightened, as above described, they must'still move a considerable distance before the racks 4 on thebottoms thereof are engaged by the pinions which move the train beneathfthe grinders and polishers.

There is thus some danger that the couplers will become loosened, du'eto vibration or other causes and so prevent the tables from spreading slightly and interfering with the proper laying of the glass. 7 To prevent this loosening and, separating action, the guard rails 50 are provlded, as indicated in Fig. 2

the lower ends of the levers them in the inclined looking positions indicated in Fig.' 2. These rails have" their ends inclined as indicated at 51 to give a camming action, as the handles 40 are engaged in case such handles are not fully moved to locking position before the rail is reached. These guard rails 50 extend along the tracks a considerable distance and serve to hold the couplers tightly for engaging in locked position until the pinions wh1ch engage the racks on the bottoms of the cars can engage such racks, after which it is not necessary that the couplers be held in locked position, since, with the rack pressing the table ahead train holding the car back, the car is held up against the car preceding by the drive of the pinion, so that there is no tension'whatever upon the couplers and no couplers are in fact required from this point on.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the transfer system, including the locomotive and other apparatus, as described, permits of the shifting of the cars from the return tracks C and D to. the work tracks A and B by the operator of theloco motive without any necessity of leaving his station upon the locomotive and without'the and with the resistance of the v under the control of theoperator of the locomotive, as heretofore described. The foregoing also applies to the shifting of the cars at the left hand end of the system from the work tracks-A and B to the return tracks. 0 and D, the operator of the locomotive be ing in control of the coupling and uncoupling operations and of the shifting of the cars without the necessity of leavinghis station on the locomotive and without the requirement of assistance on the part of other workmen. In some cases, it may be desirable to shift two of the worlk cars as a' unit, and this can be readily arranged for by having the transfer car of suitable size and by leaving the two work cars coupled together and shifting them as a unit, the proportions of the automatic controlling mechanism being modified as to length in order to handle this condition. When the cars arrive at the left hand ends of the tracks A and B, they are uncoupled by the rails 73, 73 (Figs. 1 and 4) which there engage the coupler handles 8 and swing them to the right, so that the locomotive can pull the'end cars away from the trains and onto the transfer car H.

, What we claim is:

1. The combination with a plurality of parallel tracks adapted to carry a seriesof cars or tables, a transfer track extending transversely of said tracks at one end thereof, a transfer car mounted on said track pro-- vided with a track adapted toreceive a car transfer car and adapted to engage said'refrom any one of said parallel tracks when the track on the transfer car is brought into alignment with such one of the parallel tracks, an indexing cam extending transverselyof said parallel tracks provided with a recess for each of said'tracks, a spring pressed indexing member carried by the cesses, and power means carried by the transfer car for retracting said member against the pressure of the spring. I i

2. The combination with a plurality of parallel tracks adapted tocarry a series of cars ortables, a transfer track extending transversely of said tracks at one end thereof, a transfer car mounted on said track provided with a track adapted to receive. a car from any one of said parallel tracks when the track on the transfer car is brought into alignment with such one of the parallel tracks, a pair of indexing cams extending transversely of the parallel tracks at opposite ends of the transfer car and each provided with a recess for eachof said" tracks, a pair of indexing members carried by the transfer car and spring pressed in opposite directions for engaging the recesses on the two cams, vand power. means carr1ed by the transfer car for simultaneously transfer track exten mg retracting the indexing membersagainst the' pressure of the springs.

3. The combination with a plurality of parallel tracks adapted to carry a series of cars or tables, a transfer track extending 7 a pair of indexing members carried by the transfer car and spring pressed in opposite directions for engaging the recesses on the two cams, and power means carried by the transfer car for simultaneously retracting the indexing members against the pressure of the springs, said power means including a motor, and nut and screw mecha-' nism for effecting the movements of said indexing members. I

4:. The combination with .a pluralityofv parallel tracks adapted to carry a series of cars or tables, a transfer track extending transversely of said tracks at one end thereof, a transfer car mounted on said track provided with a track adapted to receive a car from anyone of said parallel tracks when the track on the transfer car is brought in I to alignment with such one of the, parallel tracks, an indexing cam extending transversely-of said parallel tracks provided with a recess for each of said tracks, a spring pressed indexing member carried by the transfer car having a roller at its end'adapted to engage said recesses, and power means carried by the transfer car for retracting said member against. the pressure of the spring.

5. The combination in a transfer system including a plurality of parallel tracks, a transfer track extending transversely thereof, a transfer car on the track having a track adapted to be brought into alignment withsaid parallel tracks, and a plurality of work cars on the tracks with coupling means at their ends adapted to couple together when their ends are brought into abutting relation, of a locomotive mounted on the track on the transfer car and having coupling means for engaging the coupling means at the ends of the work cars, an

means for uncoupling the end work car of the series from it's abutting car operated b the movement of approach of such cars wit respect to the transfer track, so that the locomotive can pull the work car thus uncoupled onto the transfer earl 6. The combination' in' a transfer system including a pluralit of parallel tracks, a

transversely thereof, a transfer car on the track having a track adapted to be brought into alignment with said parallel tracks, and a plurality of work cars on the tracks a with coupling means at their ends adapted to couple together when their ends are brought into abutting relationof a locomotive mounted on the track on the transfer car and having coupling means for engaging the coupling means at the ends'of the work cars, a swinging lever at the end of each car for releasing the coupler, and stop means alongside the parallel tracks adjacent the ends thereof arranged to engage said levers, and uncouple the end work car of the series from the next car as these cars approach the transfer track, so that the locomotive can pull the work car thus uncoupled onto the transfer ear.

7. Thecombination in a transfer system including a pluralityof parallel tracks, a

. transfer track extending transversely thereof, a transfer car on the track having a track adapted to be brought into alignment with said parallel tracks, and a plurality of work cars on the tracks with coupling means at their ends adapted to couple together when their ends are brought into abutting relation, of a locomotive mounted on the track on the transfer car and having coupling means for engaging the coupling means at the ends of the work cars, aswinging lever at the end of each car for releasing the coupler, stop means alongside the parallel tracks adjacent the ends thereof mounted for movement, so that in one position the stop means will engage said levers and. in another position, will not engage'the levers, and cam means on the locomotive for moving the sto means to nonengaging posia tion, the sai stop means being arranged to,

engage said levers as the cars approach the transfer track and secure the uncoupling of the end work car of the series from the next car, so that the locomotive can pull the work car thus uncoupled onto the transfer 8. The combination with a track, a lu'- rality of cars mounted thereon and coup ing means at the ends of the cars adapted to pull the cars into contact at their ends, of

-- operating mechanism for each coupler, in-

eluding a lever at the side of the car which tightens the cou hng when swung in one direction, means or drawin the series of cars continuously forward, an 'a cam rail alon the side of the track at the forward en thereof for engaging the levers and holding them in osition to lock the couplers tightly duri t e first part of the travel of the cars a ong the track. a

9. In combination in a transfer system including a track and a train of work cars thereon rovided with couplers at their ends which interlock when the cars areincluding a track and a train of work cars thereon provided with couplers at their ends which interlock when the cars are brought into abutting relation, and with means for operating such couplers to tighten them and draw the cars together, of a shifting locomotive for pushing other similar cars up against the train one after the other so that the coupler of each car interlocks with the one next ahead constituting apart of the train, a coupler on the locomotive for interlooking with the coupler on they end of the I car which is being added to the train, means operable from the locomotive for releasing the coupler between the locomotive and the car which is being addedto the train and means operable from the locomotive for tightening the coupler at the end of such car remote from the locomotive.

' 11. In combination in a transfer system including a .track and*a train of work cars thereon provided with couplers at their ends which interlock when the cars are brought into abutting relation, and with means for operating such couplers to tighten them and drawthe cars together, of a shifting loco motive for pushing other similar cars up against the train one after the other so that the coupler of each car interlocks with the one next ahead constituting a part of the train, a coupler on the locomotive for interlocking with the coupler on the end of the car which is being added to the train, means operable from the locomotive for releasing the coupler between the locomotive and the car which is being added to the train, and

means operable from the locomotive for,

tightening the coupler atthe end of such car remote from the locomotive, said means for operating the couplers at both ends of the car being actuated independently by a pair of hand levers. Y

12. In combination in a transfer system including a track and a train of work cars thereon provided with couplers at their ends which interlock when the cars are brought into abutting re ation, and with means for operating such couplers to tighten them and draw the cars to ether, such means including a lever at the side of each car, of a shifting locomotive for pushing other similar cars up against the train one after the,

other so that the coupler of each car added "interlocks with t'hat of the last one of the.

train, an actuating device mounted at the side of the track for limited movement back and forth longitudinally thereof and adapted to. engage said levers, and operating means carried by the locomotive for en-' gaging said actuating device and moving the lever of the car next ahead to tightening position after the coupler of such next car has been engaged by that of the car which is being added to the train by the locomotive. v

13. In combination in a transfer system including a track and a train of work cars thereon provided with couplers at their ends which interlock when the cars are brought into abutting relation, and with means for operating such couplers to tighten them and draw the cars together, such means including a lever at the side of each car, of a shifting locomotive for pushing other similar cars up against the train one after the other so that the coupler of each car added interlocks with that of the last one of'the train, an actuating device mounted at the side of the track for limited movement back and forth longitudinally thereof and adapted to engage said levers, and a manually operated device carried by the locomotive for engag-' ing said actuating device and moving the lever of the car next ahead to tightening position after the coupler of' such car has een engaged by that of the car which is being added to the train by the locomotive.

14. In combination in a transfer system including a track and a train of work cars thereon provided with couplers at their ends which interlock when the cars are brought into abutting relation, and with means'for operating such couplers to tighten them and draw the cars together, such means including a lever at. the side of each car, of

a shifting locomotive for pushing other similar cars up against the train one after the other so that the coupler of each car added interlocks with that of the last one of the train, a coupler on the locomotive for engaging those on thecars, an actuating device mounted at the side of the track for limited movement back and forth longitudinally thereof and adapted to engage said levers and a manually operated device carried by the locomotive arranged to cause the release of the coupling between the locomotive and the car being shifted and to cause the movement of said actuating member to -m0ve the lever of the last car oft-he train so as to tighten the coupling between such .car and the car which is being added to the so that the coupler of each car. added interlocks with that of the last one of the train, an actuatin device mounted at the side of the track fer limited movement back and forth longitudinally thereof and adapted to engage said-levers, operating means carried by thelocomotive for engaging, said actuating device and through it moving the lever of the car next ahead to coupler tightening position, and means whereby a backward movement of the locomotive moves said actuating means back to its starting position.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribedour names this 6th day of June,

- JOHN H. FOX.

ALBERT E. EVANS. 

